Safra to mark SAF Day with more than 130 deals

Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman, who is president of Safra, reading a book to NurtureStars Preschool children at the school's Safra Jurong centre on June 22, 2018. ST PHOTO: JONATHAN CHOO

SINGAPORE - Safra is rolling out more than 130 deals to mark this year's SAF Day on July 1. The deals, to appreciate servicemen's contributions to Singapore's defence, include free entry to Safra's swimming pools and gyms islandwide.

All Singapore Armed Forces (SAF) national servicemen, including full-time national servicemen and operationally ready national servicemen, and Safra members can enjoy the deals, which include 50 per cent discounts at Safra's sports and recreation facilities such as BBQ pits, futsal courts, games rooms, squash courts, tennis courts and multi-purpose courts.

The deals are available from June 30 and end at various dates, with some lasting until Dec 31, 2018.

Safra will be partnering more than 110 merchants to offer discounts on products and services, including in food and beverage, apparel, wellness, entertainment and recreation, it announced on Friday afternoon (June 22).

It is also collaborating with community and corporate partners to introduce a series of We Thank NSmen initiatives. One of them is the Appreciating NSmen Art Jam, an initiative between Safra and the Association of Early Childhood and Training Services, to teach pre-school children about NSmen's important role in national defence and why they serve.

Pre-schools nationwide have been encouraged to include a special segment in their curriculum in which children decorate appreciation cards to give to their NSmen fathers as well as find out more about their fathers' national service roles and experiences, in the lead-up to SAF Day.

More than 100 pre-school centres nationwide, involving over 8,500 children, are taking part in the initiative, including NurtureStars Preschool.

On Friday afternoon, at the school's Safra Jurong centre, Senior Minister of State for Defence and Foreign Affairs Maliki Osman, who is president of Safra, interacted with parents and children during the art jam.

Speaking to the media, he said he was happy to see the initiatives by Safra and its partners to thank the NSmen.

"Once a year, it is great to come together to create new initiatives that will inspire others to be thankful to our NSmen.

"I am also happy to see that more than 100 childcare centres have stepped forward to join the Art Jam initiative, which is very important.

"This is a unique group of children who see their fathers put on their uniform on certain days of the year and they may be wondering why that is the case.

"This is the time where we tell and educate our children that our fathers are going out to make sure we live in a safe and civil country."

A series of animated Appreciation GIFs developed by students of ITE College Central's School of Design & Media, in a competition with the theme of appreciating national servicemen, was also launched on Friday.

The public can download the Appreciation GIFs from the Safra website (www.safra.sg) to use in WhatsApp or social media. The full list of deals is also on the website.

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